THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (Christopher Nolan 2012)

[oscar jubis]

Good stuff. Thanks.

[Johann]

How does it bow to capitalism? Can you explain more, Oscar?
Do you mean box office? Or in the story itself?

[oscar jubis]

I am referring to the story. I'm not sure I want to get too detailed here... but it is clear to me that Gotham is governed by a plutocracy and that it is a society where technology has become a fetish, where everything has been turned into a commodity, where giant corporations run the show (sounds familiar?) and need Batman to save them from anarchic, leftist revolutionaries like Bane who is ultimately nothing more than a sick fuck who wants to empty the prisons and stage assaults on institutions like the Stock Exchange and just blow it all up. Something like that, no?

[Johann]

Bravo Oscar. You've got it nailed, and in only 3 sentences.
It is VERY familiar, this scenario, and you are dead-bang on.
But still a thumbs down for you?
Not enough glimmers of hope in it?
Too much noise and not enough oomph?

[oscar jubis]

No, I enjoyed it (with reservations). Most of what makes it fun for me has to do with spectacle and movement but there are also performance bits that are interesting. Film is "working for the clampdown" though, far as I'm concerned.

[Johann]

True. Grand, Grand spectacle here.
Everybody should go home happy with this one, but if you don't, you don't.
It re-works the Christ-myth (something I hadn't considered but it made me think. (by Katherine Monk, a fine film reviewer).
She also said Friedrich Nietzsche is also present, and personal responsibility is huge.
Bane has a voice that out-creeps Darth Vader's. I mean, his voice is Awesome.
His lines are chilling, and Tom Hardy's almost silent film-like performance is excellent- kabuki or some kind of mime- his mask is interesting. Chris Nolan changed it from the comics- a mask that I really dig- but this new one makes sense. Batman's cowl covers his whole cranium, save his jawline. Bane's mask covers only his jawline and face up to the eyes, with straps. His bald scarred head is exposed, -the complete opposite of Batman's. Bane is mysterious, his motives and his backers or source of resources are not apparent.
His theatricality is more direct and refined than Bruce's. (as he was Ronin'd from the League of Shadows- an interesting thing, because that makes Bane a much more formidible foe than the Joker, and that's saying something).

Bane is Pure Anarchy. He does not care. He knows what he will do, and he dramatizes his speech much like Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now. (at least to me anyway).
He breaks Bruce's back & shatters his cowl, and utters the immortal line he said in the Knightfall series:
I Will Break You.
with zero emotion. Like a horror movie.
"The Bat" is a fucking beast, no?
That flying technology marvel- a "modern fetish", as it were- is pretty damn cool. The shots of Batman manouevering that thing- Oh Yeah.-and his revelation to Commissioner Gordon was nicely handled.
And those tanks-turrets- firing away. Loud movie indeed. Gotham is more than under siege. Surround Sound that really works your subwoofer.
Gotham City is being left for dead.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES has bad acting, like all 3 Bat-movies do, as Monte Hellman mentioned on facebook- he's a great man.


But the urgency and sheer cinema overwhelm the viewer. It's almost too much. I can see some people getting a headache from that pulse-pounding score, but this is no Joel Schumacher Batman flick with stupid rubber nipples and neon garishness.
Christian Bale is a mean m*********ing Batman, Yo.
He puts it all on the line, and he's got a sexy intriguing Cat-burglar telling him that he doesn't owe the people anything and that he should take off with her and live the life of Riley.
Plot twists were aplenty, and I was smiling a lot, just grinning, Man. How did he top what was untoppable? Because Chris Nolan is smart, he knows what fans want and he knows what the character needs in order to be done properly, with respect, because even though he's fiction, you have to have much respect for Batman (or pick your Icon out of thousands of pulp fiction/comics heroes). This movie just does not let up from the get-go.
We got a great gift handed to us.
The best "popcorn" movie to date. Certainly of this summer.
Gary Oldman is better than Jack Bauer! riding garbage trucks and shit! Going all-out gangster with the soon-to-be Robin, teaching the whippersnapper a thing or two about policing a city like Gotham. Give Gary an Oscar please? And Michael Caine? They earned it. People say that The Dark Knight Rises will be snubbed at the Oscars. Oh? Too "summer" for the Academy? I hope not.
Excellence in cinema should be rewarded with Oscars. Mr. Nolan, the Esteemed Mr. Christopher Nolan has not won a directing Oscar for Batman. Can someone explain that? He's a Master. Extremely gifted. And a quiet guy, I heard, from an interview with Michael Caine.

Morgan Freeman is Rock Solid, as always. The casts have always been great with these Batmans.
Cilian Murphy returns, *bizarrely* and Matthew Modine is a cop who is so in fear of Bane and what he threatens to do that he hides at home and pretends he has no uniform. Gordon can't believe it.

Joseph-Gordon Leavitt (sp?) is a great actor and he arguably gives the best performance of them all. Everybody's great- everybody has a distinct character, and it all works beacause Nolan knows exactly what he's doing and he's been saving some wonderful cinematic surprises. He did it with The Dark Knight and he's done it again with this. And we're all better for it. Movies like this can save the world, Man.
You can laugh, but I really believe that. This is powerful stuff, even though it is based on "silly Comic books for kids"
Nolan made it dramatic, gave all aspects respect, and never ever lost his mind or went off the rails with the sequels- letting them get away from him. Not only did he surprise the shit out of Batman fans, (Who didn't like the sequences of Bane's origins?- cinematically adapted to the screen with a twist) but he went all Terminator on us with this one. Weapons and technology and WMD's, capitalism- it's stunning because it makes you think about todays' world and "What if some anarchist actually blew up the stock exchange? a football stadium? Bridges? crippling a city and creating mass panic and fear?"

It's heavy.
It's dark, but Batman does indeed Rise.
A Masterpiece of a movie. Thank you to Chris Nolan and every single craftsman who worked on it.
You don't need no stinking Oscars but you should damn well get them.
What a gift to movie fans. This is like Star Wars-level of quality here. I mean it.
Chris Nolan ranks as one of the best film directors to ever yell cut.
A priviledge to see something so Grand and Visually Amazing.

[Johann]

And Chris,

NO! THERE IS NOTHING MARION COTILLARD CAN,T DO.

[Johann]

I've re-watched The Dark Knight trilogy over the holidays, and I thought I'd post about The Dark Knight Rises again.
These films are amazing on Blu-Ray.

Anthony Lane is rather flippant about this movie. I think it helps to be a fan and reader of Batman comics to truly love this movie. Others may be bored or detached from it. I can see that.
For me, I think all three films are masterpieces, and The Dark Knight Rises is a perfect way to wrap up what Nolan started with Batman Begins. The story is about Bruce Wayne, his journey. Bane is a more formidable foe for Batman than The Joker. He is Bruce's equal, as he was also in the League of Shadows. Nolan stayed true to Bane's origins, which is showcased in a one-shot comic from the early 90's called Vengeance of Bane. I was super-stoked when I heard that Bane was gonna be in this. The Joker is obviously the best Batman villain, the "greatest trickster character ever" according to Denny O'Neill, and Heath ledger did a masterful job. But Bane is my 2nd favorite Batman villain, and Tom Hardy played the character Awesome. I thank Chris Nolan for casting him and directing him in that way. It's what makes this film really rock and roll for me.

It is solemn, very solemn indeed. But solemn is fine for a Batman movie. I love how seriously this was taken, the approach Nolan took. It was right, it was Modern. People love to mock comic book movies for being fluff, but people like me want some serious treatments once in a while. The Dark Knight Rises is serious entertainment. Yes, it's violent. But it's engaging as hell to me. It has a Kubrickian feel, which Nolan's latest film (Interstellar) doesn't have, but could use.
I don't want him to "ape" Kubrick- I don't want anybody aping Kubrick. But I'd like to see nods to the Grand Master. I'd like to see techniques that he would appreciate. Chris Nolan can do that no problem and still keep his style, still keep his own stylistic vision. It doesn't have to be blatant, just little nods, like Alex gives with his milk in hand at the Korova.

The Bat (flying vehicle) is maybe not as impressive as the Bat-Pod, but I still like it. It works. It's better than a bat-jet or that thing Michale Keaton flew in Tim Burton's Batman. I like that Robin may get his own movie in the future. I hope Chris Nolan is involved. I'm not against Robin as a character, it's just that he's kind of not needed. Batman is fine on his own. But I will never say "No Robin! Ever!" That's kinda lame. Robin is just as Iconic a character as Batman. There's no question about that. It's just that he's a sidekick, and you'd have to really write something juicy to make it work. But it can be done. The Robin in Joel Schumacher's two bat-flicks was inconsequential. He was just window dressing, and nobody talks about him nowadays. What expensive failures those movies were! They killed Batman as a movie franchise! For almost 8 years! Thanks George Clooney!

But we batman fans were saved by a one Christopher Nolan. He saved us like Batman saves Gotham.

[Chris Knipp]

Of course Anthony Lane is flippant about the movie. And why not?

I think it helps to be a fan and reader of Batman comics to truly love this movie. Others may be bored or detached from it. I can see that.
For me, I think all three films are masterpieces

Well, that says it all. You have to be an enthusiast of comic books to love this movie. So you have to have the mind of an 11-year-old. I'm raising by one year the year when I lost interest in comic books. My last ones were Classics Illustrated Comic Books, which are more like illustrated Cliff Notes. The men in tights with capes I'd left earlier. If you see all three films as "masterpieces," there's really no discussion. This becomes just a fan outlet for you.

[tabuno]

Even without really having gotten into Batman Comic books growing up, The Dark Knight Rises really rocks on its own.

[cinemabon]

I wrote a short story about Batman having to go "commando" because underwear pinched him when he wore his suit. He had problems when he ran into Catwoman as his response to her became quite obvious.

Alfred: You don't wear anything under that?

Batman: Alfred! You surprised me. You usually don't watch me change.

Alfred: I'm the only help in this house. I have 64 rooms to clean. I saw enough of you when you were little Bruce. You didn't answer my question.

Batman: They pinch.

Alfred: They?

Batman: Underwear, it binds up underneath when I swinging around town. None of the supers wear underwear - Superman, Spidey, Green Lantern...

Alfred: TMI, Bruce, TMI. (walks away)

[Johann]

Getting back to my fan outlet, there are references to Kubrick in Chris Nolan's Batman movies.
The Spectacle can maybe distract you from noticing. Wayne Manor's exterior is the same as seen in Eyes Wide Shut.(It's burned to the ground at one point).
Rade Sherbegia (Millich in Eyes Wide Shut) is in Batman Begins. The Joker is as depraved as Alex in A Clockwork Orange was, and just as fearlessly evil. The attention to detail that Mr. Nolan has in these films is Kubrick-level. He is a craftsman, like Kubrick was. His last film (Interstellar) disappointed me. But I guess it's like The Beatles- you can't be number 1 all the time. Sooner or later you slip to 2. Even Kubrick had failures. Barry Lyndon was a flop. An expensive one. It got Oscars, yes, but it made no money, and critics ravaged it. Pauline Kael panned another Kubrick movie.

The Dark Knight Rises is my favorite of the three, and I'm amazed it even exists, that the Batman characters are taken seriously, Gotham City is a real place- what phenomenal sets that flick has! Bane is a badass, a psychopathic anarchist mercenary who's hired to do some major damage to Gotham. He's "Gotham's Reckoning". Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement to face Bane and save his city. He dons the Batsuit again and Rises to take down true evil. And he succeeds. This 3-act set is awesome to true Batman fans. Yes there's bad acting (it's supposed to be there, hyper-real verbiage a la comics) and yes there's hokiness to Batman's voice at times. But the sheer cinema is there, hitting you right between the eyes. I never get tired of watching the Blu-Rays. Vision is there, cinema is there, action is there, dramatic characters & situations are there. It's marvelous.

Anne Hathaway is sexy and strong as Catwoman. Her and Batman fight with baddies on a rooftop, and Batman says: No guns. She replies angrily: Where's the fun in that?. Chris Nolan said he wanted to make sequels like the Star Wars sequels, topping what came before but still remaining true to the world you originally created.